Newsom on special election and Hahn’s fundraising complaint

Our colleagues Matier and Ross had the scoop today on Janice Hahn, Mayor Gavin Newsom’s challenger for the Democratic nomination for Lieutenant Governor, filing a complaint against him today with the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission.

Hahn says the $3.4 million in donations to Newsom’s failed gubernatorial campaign should count towards their agreed upon $5.2 million spending cap in the L.G. race. We asked Newsom today what he thought of the complaint.

“They’re just simply wrong on the facts, and that’s all I can say.” Well, not ALL he can say. “I’m running a positive campaign, and I’m talking about creating jobs…This is just another attack by my opponent. I’m running for something, not against somebody. They’re running against someone.”

We also asked the mayor about why the idea for a special election to replace him should he win the race has seemingly died on the vine. (He doesn’t have the votes on the Board of Supervisors to put a call for a special election on the ballot, and his downtown allies are backing away from funding a signature drive to get it there.)

“You have to go out and get signatures, and if the folks who were so concerned about me leaving don’t want to do it…” He didn’t finish the sentence, but we could read between the lines.

A special election would cost $3.5 million when the city faces a $522 million budget deficit. Newsom was adamant he could find the money to pay for the election. “Some would suggest it’s the price of democracy and representative government,” he said.